I have been shortboarding for a number of years now and in the last year since I got my first board with FCS (these are the most readily available to me and I have built up a collection of them) fins I have started to experiment with different fins. Just take a look at your local surf mag over the last 10 years and count the number of times an article or fin advert(excluding longboard fins)appears in it and you will see that there has been a definate increase. I recon the removable fin systems have done wonders for fins systems. I grew up on reef breaks and there is nothing worse than loosing a fin on a Saturday morning session. It cuts deaply into your surfing for the rest of the weekend. Great site thanks guys for making it work.
The way I see it it goes like this. The growth of surfing over the last 25 or thirty years has created a relitivally uneducated black hole that devours production. That demand balanced against the aritsts who create surfboard designs is almost overwhelming. The production will be done and the artists that can fill the demand will be those that have the financial ability to forward the art on global scale. That is not to say there are not pockets of great one off builders. They are just bit harder to find. The media promotes those who can support the magazines with adds and those guys get the attention. Some of those guys deserve the attention others don’t. Your point that now that margins are established in the fin industry is right on the mark. Once you get to a certain point you have both the luxury and the need (to grow your business) to explore the possible improvemnts in your product. So in fact compitition and curiosity both drive the improvements in any industry. Where it gets fuzzy is surfing is a subjective art form tied to industry. I guess the deal is to figure out which manufacturers are devoteing the most money, talent and effort to the improvement of the art. Those are the guys to support if improvemnts are the thing you are looking for. For instance many manufacturers use the life style clothing sales generate the $$ to drive the R+D on board or fin design, others don’t. Those guys put their money in their pockets and and fly to some uncrowded exotic secret spot to surf. Companies that feed on the indistry that sell only tee shirts and thongs are what drive the market for boards and expand the industry/market in the biggest way. I can’t really figure out if that is good or bad although I tend to think it is the latter. In reality it probably allows for more R+d and improvements. In the end the guy who ends up with the best product at the lowest price will fill the black hole but that doesn’t mean that those designers that are not working to fill the black hole aren’t viable contributors to the art. Build you own stuff and get the satisfaction and the understanding that comes with it. With that in mind this whole argument is moot. I think that should be stressed and encouraged amoung the young guys. That is where I will be looking for fresh ideas.
Ideas are a dime a dozen. They can arise from any angle, some blindside, others through serendipity. Many have origins far from surfing. As for age, IMHO the most relevant surfing-specific ideas usually come from people whove lived long enough to know the difference between chasing their own tails, and the real thing. More than ever, Ive learned to listen closely to those among us who are elders, especially the dreamers.
I dont think younger or older means anything by itself. Fact is much of lifes wisdom takes many years to embrace and develop. There are few shortcuts. “Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” Calvin Coolidge
I have that posted in my shop! in both english and Spanish. That is great you posted that! It is just about the most sage advice I have ever heard. “Good ideas are a dime a dozen—bad ideas are way more expensive”
…I was listening to it…Really I wasn’t sleeping,I was resting my eyes…Yeah,right? …got to go feed the dog now,having fun!Herb